Promise Keeper, a Black Queer novel, by Verde Arzu
In Verde Arzu’s powerful second novel, Promise Keeper, Chandon Kilpatrick enters Franklin University, a historically Black college, with a quiet vow: to live life on her own terms—not her grandfather’s, not the world’s, just her own. But one heated argument with Corey—the sharp-tongued president of the Black Student Union—goes viral, and Chandon is once again labeled the girl who isn’t “Black enough.” Determined to reclaim her narrative, she joins the campus LGBTQ+ group and commits to a bold new cause: fighting to free two Black lesbian veterans imprisoned overseas. Her drive for justice is rivaled only by the complicated pull she feels toward two very different people—her loyal friend Alisha and her frenemy Corey. As emotions around the protest rise and her relationships deepen, Chandon finds herself drawn back to the promise she made—the one rooted in her father’s legacy, and the one that demands everything she’s still becoming. Promise Keeper is a coming-of-age story about racial identity, inner conviction, and the quiet, powerful promises we make to ourselves—and what it takes to keep them.
Publication Date: June 3, 2025
Rainbow, a Black Queer novella, by Verde Arzu
Taylor plays hard and keeps her head down, on the court, in class, and in life. Basketball is her anchor, her escape, her everything. But when Melony shows up—radiant, confident, and unapologetically herself, Taylor starts questioning everything she thought she had to be.
RAINBOW is a Black queer coming-of-age love story about firsts: first love, first heartbreak, first glimpse of freedom. With a Love Jones kind of vibe, it’s the debut novella from author Verde Arzu, told with tenderness, fire, and a voice all its own.
Publication date: December 10, 2019
